October 4, 1883: At Strasbourg station (formerly Gare de l’Est), Paris, about forty passengers board the Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits’ new train, the Orient-Express. Destination: Constantinople, now Istanbul. A four-day journey from the borders of Europe to the gates of Asia, with no changes or border stops, in a true palace on rails. For a century, this iconic train will embody the myth of long-distance travel, the exaltation of refinement and the glamorous and cosmopolitan art of living. But these railway voyages from one end of the continent to the other, a symbol of a long time, did not dominate the development of air transport. The suspension of traffic in 1977, however, did not erase it from the collective imagination.
” The Orient-Express has this power to evoke emotions and memories in each of us. It is a true dream car, the ultimate symbol of excellence “, excited…
Source: Le Figaro
